Lifting devices, such as wheelchair lifts, are used in a variety of applications, including incorporation into buses and at public facilities, to provide access for the disabled, such as the handicapped or elderly, particularly those in wheelchairs. Such devices typically have required a significant dedication of space. For example, prior lifts may block an entire stairway during use, and must be removed so that the stairway may be used by non-disabled persons. It would be advantageous therefore to provide a lift which did not entirely obscure a stairway or other passageway, during use of the lift, and which, when not in use, permitted the entire stairway to be utilized. In addition, the disabled or handicapped person would benefit from a lift which he or she could operate safely and enter and exit without requiring the assistance of others, thus permitting greater independence.